December 29, 2024
Tucson area hikes - Catalinas - Summit area
By "summit area" I mean anything accessed from the Mt. Lemmon highway.
Clearly this is a misnomer for things like Molino Basin, but this is
how we are doing things here for now.
Romero Pass from the Gordon Hirabayashi trailhead
To get to this trailhead (4863 feet), drive up the Mount Lemmon Highway, past Molino Basin and watch for
the entrance to the campground on the left side of the road after you finish the climb
out of Molino Basin and the road begins to swing to the right.
(The Bug Springs trailhead is just a bit farther, on the right)
Drive through the campground, ignoring the notices about paying a camping fee,
and park at the trailhead at the far end of the Campground.
There are fancy corrals and such for horse people.
You hike down the road to Sycamore Spring Reservoir (2.4 miles) and then continue east to Sabino Basin.
The hike is actually downhill to Sabino Basin, climbing to a bit over 5000 feet, and dropping to
3700 feet, then up to Hutches Pool (7.2 miles, 4000 feet). The trail then climbs through the West Fork of
Sabino, reaching the trail junction to Cathedral Peak after 10.6 miles at 5400 feet. Romero Pass is
at 6050 feet after 12.4 miles.
This is certainly a possible way to climb Cathedral Rock (13.3 miles, 7957). This would make a nice trail
marathon (26.6 miles round trip with 3094 feet of elevation gain).
I did this hike 3-1-2010, but not the whole thing. After a weekend of heavy rains the streams were all running
in full flood, which made this hike a special experience. Crossing Bear Creek (1.8 miles from the trailhead)
involved removing my boots and crossing through fast moving ice-cold water up to my knees. I turned around in
the West fork at the crossing about 0.5 miles short of Hutches Pool. The West fork had a bigger flow than
Bear Creek did by at least a factor of two and I had planned to turn around at Hutches Pool anyway. The out
and back loop was 12 miles, which I did in 8 hours (which included 6 significant stream crossings, 3 each way,
the other two being Sycamore and Palisade Creeks). The views of the west fork on the descent into the east fork
were spectacular with snow on all the mountains and clouds on the peaks.
Hollin Basin
This is not marked on the recent maps, but if you have the old hiking club map, you will see it.
Start at the upper end of the Bug Springs trails.
Be aware that this is heavily used by mountain bikers and they can come rocketing downhill.
Even with the best of intentions, close encounters can happen.
Hike this trail up to the crest, over the saddle and down into the
drainage south of Bear Canyon.
At a likely point where the trail makes a hairpin turn back down and right,
leave the trail onto a granite slab. Do not cross the small drainage, but
head uphill. There is a nice trail up to the next saddle and it is very
much worth your while to find it. From the saddle follow the trail along
the ridge further south than you would think until it drops down a ridge
into Hollin Basin. The sharp eyed backcountry hiker will be able to follow
a nice but seldom used trail all the way into Hollin Basin.
The not so sharp eyed hiker will stuggle their way through a lot of brush.
The trail deposits you in a sandy streambed.
If you are lucky there will be water.
Whatever the case, you can wander as you see fit.
One option is to follow the stream south all the way across
the basin and climb Airmen Peak.
If you do this, the hardest part will be the scramble up the gully
on the north side of Airmen Peak.
Butterfly Trail
Wilderness of Rocks
This is a fascinating area and many hikes and backpacks are possible.
I usually start at the Marshall Gulch Picnic area trailhead and head up and
over Marshall Saddle, but you can also start from the top of Mount Lemmon.
Willow Canyon - Seven Cataracts
Palisade Canyon
Lemmon and Sabino Creek
These are not hikes, but adventures. There is no trail down either. The going is extremely rugged.
When I went down Lemmon Creek, we took a rope and used it to rappel one section. My trip down Sabino
was a multi day affair with the sensation of having vanished deep into some unexplored region.
Even an experienced person could get into trouble with either of these, so be warned.
Have any comments? Questions?
Drop me a line!
Tom's hiking pages / tom@mmto.org